Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving approaches and throughout the U.S. a fairy-tale
is re-told. It goes a little something like this:

“Pilgrims came to America, in order to escape religious
persecution in England. Living conditions proved difficult in the New World,
but thanks to the friendly Indian, Squanto, the pilgrims learned to grow corn,
and survive in unfamiliar lands. It wasn't long before the Indians and the
pilgrims became good friends. To celebrate their friendship and abundant
harvest, Indians in feathered headbands joined together with the pilgrims and
shared in a friendly feast of turkey and togetherness. Happy Thanksgiving. The
End.”

Following the bloody Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln
declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. Back then, Americans were
desperately in need of unity and inspiration. Hence, the myth of the first Thanksgiving
was born.

The actual story is very much different.

“One day, the Wampanoag people of the Eastern coast of the
Americas noticed unfamiliar people in their homelands. These unfamiliar people were
English pilgrims, coming to a new land which they dubbed "America,"
in order to settle and create a new life.

The Wampanoag were initially uneasy with the settlers, but
they eventually engaged in a shaky relationship of commerce and exchange. Also,
in observing that the pilgrims nearly died from a harsh winter, the Wampanoag
stepped in to help.

The Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, eventually entered into
agreements with the pilgrims, and, on behalf of the Wampanoag Nation, decided
to be allies while each nation coexisted in the same space together. At one
time, the Wampanoag and pilgrims shared in a meal of wildfowl, deer, and
shellfish.

After Massasoit's death, the Wampanoag nation became
weakened as a result of disease contracted from the English. It wasn't long
before the pilgrims began tormenting surrounding tribes, burning entire
villages to the ground, while indigenous men, women, and children lie sleeping.

Uneasy with the growing cruelty, greed, and arrogance of the
new people in their homelands, the Wampanoag began to distrust the pilgrims.
The pilgrims soon demanded that the Wampanoag submit to them, and give up all
their weapons.

Shortly after, the pilgrims and Wampanoag were at war, and
in the end, the pilgrims rose victorious. At the close of the war, the
Wampanoag were nearly decimated, and the son of Chief Massasoit, Metacom, was
killed by the pilgrims, dismembered, beheaded, and his head impaled on a spear
outside of Plymouth. Metacom's young son was sent to the West Indies as a
slave, along with numerous other Wampanoag and surrounding tribes. A day of
Thanksgiving was declared, and to celebrate, the pilgrims kicked the heads of
dead indigenous peoples around like soccer balls.

As indigenous nations throughout America were continually
betrayed by European settlers, killed by disease, germ warfare, hunted for
bounties, sent overseas as slaves, and ultimately pushed out of their homelands
and onto prison camps (now commonly known as reservations), few survived the
depressing conditions. As a result of centuries of historical trauma,
indigenous nations today have staggering rates of depression, mental health
disparities, suicide, and deaths due to alcohol and drugs. Indigenous people
continue to struggle to cope with historical trauma, and heal deeply imbedded
wounds which stem directly from colonialism. This, still, is not the end.”

The Thanksgiving myth breeds ignorance and reinforces
bigotry. It is time to embrace truth. The mythical version of Thanksgiving
creates a fairy-tale of land-grab, betrayal, brutality and genocide.